How To Kill A Mockingjay
by Vamay
Summary: Our version on the amazing "Mockingjay". Or, as we like to call it, the evil little blue book from Hell. Enjoy! *By Vamay and Pointeshoejen*
1. The Dark Days

**What did you think of the summer's most anticipated novel? Was it all that you dreamed it would be? Did you cry tears of joy just petting the white bird on the cover? Did you smile ear to ear when Finnick and Annie exchanged vows? Were you in love with Peeta when he remembered how much he loves Katniss even with all of her flaws? Awww... Good for you. But, if your anything like us, you thought about this a little diffrently. Oh yes. Quite the opposite. Did your eyebrow twitch when Katniss never even fought in the war? Did you throw the book half way across the room when Peeta got hijaked only to throw harder when Finnick was left for dead in a sewer? Did you gag when President Snow died _of laughing_? And by then, were you about to pass out when Gale never even got an ending? We did. It was not pretty. In fact, it scared our parents and forced them find shelter as we ripped up the dry wall in our bedrooms from throwing the evil book from Hell so many times. So, if you agree, read on and let us know what you think on the new and improved Mockingjay! :) **

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Chapter One

The Dark Days

The rebellion turned out like we planned. I appeared on television while everyone else in the underground city of District Thirteen did the real work. The only thing that registers is that half of my team is gone. Johanna Mason. Her name still sends shock waves through my spine as I try to clear my head. The lump on my forehead may have gone away, but not the memory. The fear. But when I learned that she was only protecting me, I found a new respect for the tribute from District 7. Then, there's the most heart breaking. My own partner, Peeta Mellark isn't here. He isn't here to hold me, or tell me I'm going to be okay. He isn't around to shed is warm glow of happiness, and kindness. He won't be. Ever.

The only hope I have in my new life is Gale. Though he wasn't my partner in the games, he was, and always will be, my partner in life. However, since the first time I stepped foot in the evergreen forest of the Seventy Fourth annual Hunger Games, I knew something between us shifted. We aren't kids anymore messing around in the woods, collecting strawberries for the mayor's family, or even feeding our families. Everything down here was done for us, and that made part of our friendship die.

I look up at the lights in the room and beg them to dim. The soft flickering light always made District 12 seem a little warmer in the deep freezes of winter. I close my eyes and let my mind drift. His smile, his laugh his… My eyes fly open, and I take in a whole new pair of eyes. Ones that did not puncture my dreams. Ones with dark grey irises that shine a little when I see my own reflection. The image makes me shudder, and I feel almost embarrassed that Gale is seeing me like this. Although, it's nice to see him again, even if he isn't my boy with the bread.

"Morning," he smiles. I don't answer, I just stare at him. His dark hair is cut short, and it's combed nicely. His grey clothes fit around his broad shoulders perfectly. Add a little bit of glitter and hair dye and he would look perfect enough to come from the Capitol. But of course I don't share this thought with him. "Feeling better?" He asks.

"Much," I lie with a smile. Unlike my friends in the games, Gale smiles happily and accepts the lie. I can't tell if he believes me or not. Surely not. He's been my hunting partner too long to forget how my emotions work. Or has that part of us died too?

"President Coin is allowing you into Command today," he says brightly. Since his heroic act of saving some of District Twelve, he's been greeted into the head of the rebellion warmly.

"I don't think I'm ready," I breathe. Even though from the beginning I wanted to help Peeta in any way I could, I don't think I could watch him on television, talk about his possible condition, or even attempt to answer the question of whether he was still breathing.

Gale nods, almost sadly, and leaves the room. I watch with wide eyes as golden liquid runs down the tube attached to my arm and travels under my skin. Without the sleep syrup, I would never close my eyes, hoping the nightmares would go away. But I can't seem to make myself care. Reality is as much a nightmare as my dreams. My eyes feel heavy, and I take one more moment to pray that I'll never wake up. But I'm sure District Thirteen would do anything to keep their mockingjay alive.

His screams are what hit me first. It's so full of pain, but when I try to call out to him, my voice barely comes out as a whisper. My hospital room fades into a dark, concrete hallway. I must be a ghost because all of the Peacekeepers walk right past, or even through me. I look from side to side at the jail cells. I see Enobaria in one, huddled in the corner, staring at her bloody hands with wide eyes. She doesn't seem to see me when I place my hands on the bars. I wait for her to move. But she doesn't. She just looks at her palms, worn down to bloody pieces of flesh.

Then, I watch Johanna kicking the wall of her cell. As if that would do anything at all. She has tears in her eyes and her short, brown hair is sticking up in all directions. She looks right at me with angry tears running down her dirty, bloodied face. Large bruises cover her eyes, arms, and legs. I have no idea what could be waiting on the under her clothes. Her legs are wobbling, and I can see the pain in them as she crumples to the ground, wailing. Peacekeepers with whips stroll past me and pick her off the ground by her arms before dragging her down the hall. My stomach curdles as new blood trails after her on the rough, stone floors.

The door slams at the end of the hall, and the hallway becomes eerily quiet. My legs move forward, even though every inch of me wants to turn around and run back to the hospital wing in District Thirteen. But the sleep syrup is trapping me here, in this room.

The last open cell contains a skinny but pretty girl with long, wavy brown hair. She looks so innocent scratching another tally on the wall with a rock. It takes a moment to understand what she's doing. 188 tallies, 188 days since I was rescued from the arena. It makes me shiver when she puts the rock down on a tray of untouched food. More like scraps in a ceramic bowl. There's some stale bread, some lima beans, and an indescribable pile of brown mush. There are only eight ounces of water in the bottle, which makes her frown. She crawls to the door and pokes her head out. I gasp at her large, sea green eyes. Annie. Finnick's Annie. When she doesn't see anybody, she curls up on the hard ground in a tight ball and closes her eyes. Her nose twitches once, but this girl looks almost sane.

I have to tear myself away from Annie when another scream escapes a door with only a small window on the top. It's made of steel, but I know exactly who's behind it. Annie sits up for a moment, and a man with gloved hands steps out of the room, slowly shaking his head. "It's going to be okay, Peeta," Annie says before the door shuts completely.

"Oh shut up, Cresta!" I turn around to see Johanna returning in shackles. She has new welts on her body. "They're never coming for us!"

The room behind the steel door stays quiet.

Another Peacekeeper steps out of the door with an iron rod and bangs it against Enobaria's cell which makes her jump. The man snickers, but I don't have time to watch him go. I catch the door in my hands, and wonder, for a moment, if I'm ready to look at Peeta. The others look so beat up, but Peeta's the one I'm close to.

I come all the way into the room, but I keep my eyes shut tight. The smell of blood and the tingle of electricity penetrate my senses as I open my eyes. He's hanging from shackles, seemingly lifeless. He's a million times worse than even Johanna. His blonde hair is damp and brown from dried blood, only the tips show his true color. You can barely see his fair skin because of the welts and blood. I recognize the long strips on his back, middle, and face. His lip is torn, and his prosthetic is nowhere in sight.

I gulp in as much air as I can hold and gag at what comes. It feels like the cave, and Peeta's worse than ever. His blood poisoning was bad, but here it's just blood. No room for infection.  
Peeta looks up at me, like he can actually tell I'm there. Even though I have to remind myself that I'm still living in a nightmare, he looks so real. His blue eyes are drained, as if the life has been sucked out of them. There's so much pain, suffering, and hurt. But when our eyes lock, they shine just the littlest bit.

"Here to finish me off, sweetheart?"

The room and Peeta fade, and I'm left more confused than ever. "Sweetheart?" a gruffer, but equally as hoarse voice says. My eyelids flutter open, and Haymitch's face comes into view. He doesn't give me a smile like most of my visitors do, which I kind of like. Haymitch has been in rehab the whole time we've been in District 13. I give him a scowl and watch him. "What did you dream last night?" he asks bluntly. "I mean, obviously not something peaceful."

"I was watching the others," I shiver. He nods, and pats his knees a couple times. This is more awkward than he expected, I guess. Ever since I tried to claw his eyes out, we haven't been on very friendly terms. I still hate him for leaving Peeta behind.

"Any idea where you were? Because I could definitely get into Command if I had that kind of information," he smirks for less than a second.

"No idea," I murmur, and unhook the tubes from my arm. The lack of drugs puts me into a whirl for a moment, but I gain my footing, and pad down the hallway.

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**Hello Earthlings! You might have seen this on Pointeshoejen's profile, and I promise you this isn't plagerism it's just a nifty way to get updates up faster, get it? So, how do you like this? Was it good?**

**Another thing I want to say, that most author's do is, I love you people of fanfiction, especially those who review. But, what most authors don't do is give you a choice. What do you want to see in chapters to come? What in Mockingjay made you NOT like it, or made you LOVE it? This is as much for your enjoyment as it is ours.**

**Lots of love,**

**Emily and Jenna :)**


	2. Invisible

Chapter Two

Invisible

I have to get away from Haymitch, so I start to walk. I don't know where I'm going, but eventually, I wind up in Command. Subconsciously, I guess I probably went here on purpose, but as I walk in, I know it was a mistake. The group is gathered around a television which is currently showing Peeta, bloody and crumpled in a cell a million miles from here. I gasp and everyone turns towards me. I turn quickly on my heels and sprint out of Command.

"Katniss! Katniss, wait!" I hear from behind me, but I don't slow down.

"Leave me alone, Gale," I manage to cry. The image of Peeta on the floor is burned into my eyes.

"Katniss, if we'd have known you were coming, we wouldn't have watched it. I'm sorry! Katniss, look at me!" But I don't. Instead, I run faster. I wind up in my usual hideout, a closet filled with school supplies. I'm not there for five minutes when Gale finds me.

He picks me up and holds me. "We're doing everything we can to get him back," he says and I know he's right. But it doesn't change the fact that he isn't here now.

Suddenly I feel a stab in my forearm and, once again, I'm out cold.

This time, I'm in a cell too. Red welts and burns cover nearly every inch of my body. My hair is singed. It's difficult to breathe, and I fall to the ground. I look through the steel bars in front of me and lock eyes with Annie Cresta. She looks positively healthy, and that worries me. What are they doing to her? The door at the end of the hall opens and a Peacekeeper walks in.

"Miss Cresta, what a wonderful sight to see," he says. His voice is sickening. Annie squeezes her eyes shut and stands up. The Peacekeeper unlocks her cell and guides her away, his hand gripping her arm tightly.

"People pay to have her," a voice says. It comes from the cell to the left of Annie's. It's Johanna Mason. She is every possible shade of purple from head to toe. "That's why they keep her healthy." It's a sick thought and I wonder why they choose Annie rather than Johanna or Enobaria or me. For a brief moment, I consider it, being healthy but abused, rather than bloody and raw. I'd pick the latter any day. Poor Annie.

Enobaria is in the cell to the right of Annie's. She is blistered all over. She just stares ahead, into nothingness.

"Peeta?" I whisper. "Peeta, where are you?" Johanna looks at me as if I'm crazy.

"He's right next to you," she says. I look around, but he isn't there. This time, he is the one who is invisible.

I slowly drift back to consciousness again. Why was it different this time than last? How are they really being punished? Why couldn't I see Peeta?

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** A short chapter from the lovely Pointeshoejen! Give her a round of applause! :)**


	3. Waking Up

Chapter Three

Waking Up

The dark hospital room comes into view. Gale is in a chair with his head tilted back and his mouth hanging wide open. My fists clench and I swear under my breath. When I ran to the supply closet, he tried to comfort me like before, and I had seen a glimmer of hope in our friendship. But, back then he had let me cry and make a fool of myself in the woods; this time he didn't hesitate to stab me with a syringe.

I slide off the edge of the bed, taking light steps down the dim hallways. District 13 turned down the lights during the night, the only indication that the day had ended. The nightgown I wear sticks to my thighs as I make my way across the cold, concrete passage way. Every intersection I come to a freeze, expecting Prim or my mother to jump out into my path. They do work in the hospital wing, after all.

I keep my head clear enough to come to a white door labeled '12'. I attempt to turn the knob, but my hand slips. After wiping it on my hospital gown, I gingerly open the door to find boxes of personal items that most people weren't here to collect. It was little things that survived the fires. I kneel in front of a small, metal box labeled 'Mellark' in neat, computerized writing. It looks too cold to contain anything that could have belonged to Peeta.

The lid opens in a robotic way. A sports shirt is the first thing I pull out. It has the number '74' written in white on the back. I stuff it back in the box. I shouldn't feel anything, but the Games are still in the back of my mind like an open threat. The next item I pull out is something that reminds me of a when I was young. A small, stuffed bear whose ears are fried and one eye is missing.

"What are you doing?" A voice comes from behind me, but I don't put the bear back. I just look at the man, and hug the toy tighter to my chest like a child. He kneels down, and I can see his silhouette but not much more. "What do we have here?" he asks, and I can hear the smile in his voice. He sits down in front of me, and runs his fingers over the bear's scorched ears.

"Do you know who this belongs to?" I ask, trying to sound firm, but my voice cracks mud-sentence. He stops touching the bear and slides the box around so the name is facing him.

"Oh, I knew them very well," he smiles.

"Really?" I can't help but feel hopeful. I guess it shouldn't matter. No amount of friends will save Peeta.

"Of course," he says bluntly. "I was part of the family, after all." My breath catches in the back of my throat, and I have to slap my chest to realize what's happening. He lets out a half-hearted laugh and holds out his hand. "Andy Mellark, second oldest child of Thomas Mellark, baker of District 12." I shake his hand. "Brother of the famous victor, Peeta Mellark," he adds. His voices bites at the last part.

"B-b-but, you're supposed to be dead!" I stammer.

He laughs a little bit. "Should be," he corrects, looking at me for a long time, as if I should laugh with him. I don't get the joke. "I was at a friend's house. Married into the Seam, so I had an easy out," he explained. There were always a few blonde heads in the crowds of the Seam besides my mother and Prim, but I couldn't place the couple that Andy was referring to. "Come." Andy takes my arm, and pulls me off the floor and into the hallway. Sure enough, he had blonde hair that hung a little over his eyes, and those blue eyes that only the Mellark family possessed. He's a little taller than Peeta, and I remember him from the school varsity wrestling team.

He opens a door and leads me into the room behind it. There's two beds, but obviously his roommate left for the night. Most people of District 13 fit in some extra training during the night when most of the children are asleep. It helps that they're out of the way.

Andy flicks on his T.V. and Johanna's face comes onto the screen. Andy holds me into a sitting position even though all I want to do right now is run. The camera takes all angles of her tortured body. Then, when they're done with her, Peeta is kicked into the room, and lands flat of his face. The hand-cuffs are linked behind his back, and the Peacekeeper lifts him up by his wrists, making a cracking sound echo through the room.

"Why are you making me watch this?" I turn to Andy, but his eyes are fixed on the screen. This is his _brother_! How can he just stare at him being tortured? "Andy!"

"Katniss." He looks at me. "Don't look at Peeta. Look at what's around him. I never see anything, but if we knew where to look for them, we'd get a better image of where they are," he whispers, his blue eyes going back to the screen, reflecting all the horrors as they stare, transfixed.

I look at the picture behind Peeta and see the sloppy brick work. This is nothing like any of my dreams, but I'm sure that the nightmares weren't pointless, where they? "Well," I start, but Andy doesn't look at me. Probably thinking I am about to make an excuse to run, which explains why his hand is still around my arm. "We know he isn't in the Capitol."

"What?"

"The bricks are too sloppy. If they were in the Capitol, they would be perfect just like everything else there," I say with a frown. I wish they were in the Capitol. That would narrow down the location by a whole country.

"Well, it isn't District 7 either," he says. "At least, it would make sense if the houses there were made out of wood."

"They are," I mumble, remembering the victory tour with Peeta. The houses were similar in District 11. "But who had brick houses?" I wonder out loud. Andy shrugs and continues to watch the Peacekeeper dunk his little brother's face into a bucket of water and come out again gasping for air.

"Where do you think they get it all?" Andy asks, seeing that they were Peeta's torture more lethal with drugs rather than weapons. He mumbles something, maybe my name, before he goes out. A small sliver of blue sky comes from a window with one short, leafy tree outside before the Capitol seal appears. Andy gets up and is walking towards the door while I continue to think. Connecting the dots is hard when you don't know where you'll end up.

"District Two."

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**Hey guys! Thanks for the lovely reviews, and I hope your all enjoying this as much as we are! But please, if you read this, and want something diffrent from Mockingjay... or the same, leave a review TELLING US! Or support is always good to! Seriously. The first day we had this up, we got 150 hits! THATS CRAZY!... Yet, only three reviews! **

**Love you reviewers! YOU ROCK! **

**-Emily, and Jenna**


	4. Trees

Chapter 4

Trees

"What? What's in District Two, Katniss? Is that where Peeta is? How do you know?" Andy follows me. Once again, I had no idea where I would wind up, but walking must help me think. Like when I'm stalking prey in the woods. Almost relaxed, and thinking through every bit of my surroundings.

"Peeta, and with any luck, everyone else are in District Two." I said rather calmly.

"How?"

"The tree."

"What tree?" He asks.

"In the clip, it pans out. Just for a second, you can see it. There is a nest. It's a cone shape. Those nests belong to Montornii birds. I used to see them when I went hunting." Montornii are another Capitol creation. Supposedly they were a previous attempt at the Jabberjay. They didn't work out though, they are so beautiful. Rebels got too suspicious. And unlike the Jabberjay, Montorniis weren't sterilized, so they lived on.

"Katniss, a bird's nest found in 12 has nothing to do with District 2. They are on opposite sides of Panem," he said, discouraged.

"No, no, they live in mountains!" I said. We could get them. We would find Peeta.

"Several districts are in mountains…"

He was right. Thirteen, and Twelve are here to the east. One, Two, and Three are to the west. I cant help but cry, but Andy is there to console me. He said at least I had narrowed it down to three districts.

Andy calms me down without a syringe. The only person who I would have expected to be able to do that was Peeta. Although, Andy is a Mellark. We talk for a long time. He asks about my family and I tell him everything. My father and I in the woods, swimming, Buttercup the world's meanest cat, Lady the goat, trading at the Hob. I talk about Gale and how we met, I tell him about my mother's book of herbal medicine and the hundreds of people she and Prim had treated at our kitchen table. He listens kindly and for the first time in a very long while, I feel understood. Much, much later, I realize that there is a lot that I want to know about Peeta's family, but by then night arrives. Sleep syrup really does a number on your internal clock. Tonight I dream not of Peeta and the other tributes, but of bricks and mountains and Montorniis. And then, I know, Peeta is, in fact in District 2.

The next morning I'm delivered my very own pair of sterile, but used, grey clothes. Though the clothes are not what I'm used to, it's better than the hospital gown I've been sporting since I arrived. I don't see why they expect an army to follow me when I'm practically labeled 'mentally disabled.' I glance down at the plastic bracelet, and let out a huff of air while looking at the ceiling for a moment or two. Wait. That's right. I _am _labeled 'mentally disabled'.

"Great," I sigh, shaking my head and turning towards the door. Prim is waiting for me, ready to get down to the dinning hall for breakfast. But, just as always my apatite leaves me at just the thought of eating while the others are probably half starved somewhere on the other side of Panem. How greedy could I be? _Very_. I left them all to die. They will be killed because I shot the arrow into the force field. I should die. _It should be me!_ My fist lands on someone's door, and a small child hurries out, but I start running.

Prim is after me, but she's not as quick. She never had to go into the woods, or anything! My mind is spinning. Now I'm blaming Prim? Sweet, innocent Prim? I'm a monster!

Something catches my arm. I thrash, trying to break free dreading that Coin had finally given up hope on me and has decided to kill off the Mockingjay. '_She was of no use anyways_' I can practically hear her saying. I hang limply at the side of my capture until they pull me into a hug. I silently thank Andy until I smell pine, and earth on his clothes. I lift my head to find Gale's eyes looking back at me.

"What are you doing?" I pull away from him and cross my arms. I wait for an answer even though it'll be any second before he pulls out the syringe I can see poking out from his pants pocket.

"Trying to be your friend Katniss," Gale says slowly.

"Don't talk to me like that! I am _not _crazy!" I scream at him, not proving my point what so ever. "Be the person I knew back in District 12. Be the man who fed my family when I went into the games. Don't be my friend, be my best friend. Please Gale. I'm begging you!"

"I _tried_!" He yells right back. "I _tried _being that person, and what did I get? A crying girl that didn't know what to do with herself without _him_!"

"Okay, Gale! You try killing off helpless kids, and watching this small innocent little girl die! Then, _right _when you think your life is being put back together it all goes to hell again! _All of it_! Don't you dare say I don't deserve to cry because I lost him! You don't see anyone yelling at Finnick! _He lost Annie_! Yet, just because I'm the Mockingjay I get this bull shit from you?" I scream. My face is hot with anger, and tears are streaming down my face. I wipe my sleeve over my eyes, and barely catch Gale going for the syringe.

I don't think before I have him pinned to the floor, and the syringe is far out of site, rolling down the hallway. There's a light hand on my shoulder, and I smack whoever is behind me.

"Katniss," a familiar voice whispers. I turn around to see Finnick there, looking as weak as ever. I ignore Gale on the floor, and fall into his arms. Andy is behind him, and scoops me up. I let him carry me as we make our way away from the dinning hall, and away from Gale. His face is bright red with anger as he peels himself off the floor. Prim is by his side in a minute, and I suddenly feel ashamed. I didn't even realize that she was standing right there.

The door swings open to Andy's room, and he set me down on one of the two beds. The scent of ginger and sugar linger on the linens. The smell the Peeta used to carry with him through his life in our small, broke district.

"It's all over," Finnick whispers. I look over at him. His bronze hair is matted down while his usual stunning sea green eyes are blood shot. He looks terrible.

"What?" Andy asks him. He has his fists clenched, but he doesn't strike out at anything like I would have.

"We have no chance!" Finnick spits at him. "We're never getting them back anyways. Gale is right, we're changing into different people. We need to go back!"

"There is no back, only forward," Andy murmurs. Finnick's words sear into the back of my mind. I've thought the same thing since I arrived in District 13. But hearing him say it makes me angry.

"We need to save them!" I blurt.

"And how would we do that sweetheart?" Finnick asks from the other bed. His hands are on his face, and he looks like he's trying to block me out.

"I-I-" I stammer, losing my momentum.

"We need to talk to the rebels. Nothing is going to get done if we don't tell them about District Two," Andy recovers for me. Finnick sits up with a slight shine in his eyes, and that's my indication that this may work. Coin may not be my favorite person in the world, but she is my only hope.

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**~Hey everybody! Missed us yet? Haha, I did!**

**School is crazy, I think we can all agree to that, but I dug up this chapter for ya'll! Unfortunatly, after two months our beta hasn't responded so the grammer may be a tad off... I tried though! Please don't make a chapter just saying I suck please... If you would like to add to the story as a whole, then I'm willing to listen :)**

**-Emily, and Jenna :D**


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